Corey Williams Gone

Corey Williams has been traded to the Cleveland Browns, per a report on the Washington Post website. Greg Bedard basically predicted this a week ago. I hope the Packers get a lot for him. Someone — maybe Bob McGinn — suggested that Packers could get a second or third rounder for him. That seems cheap to me. The relative value of DT is huge this year. Earlier today, the Raiders signed a very mediocre Tommy Kelly to a $50.5 million contract, $18.2 million guaranteed. (Kelly is coming off a torn ACL).

Given that reality, I would think a first-rounder would not be out of the question for a guy who plays part-time but had 7 sacks in each of the last two years. But what do I know?

UPDATE II: Adam Schefter, on NFL Network, reported that the Packers are getting a second round pick for Williams. The Browns pick 22nd in the second round. Maybe I’m missing something, but with the market so depleted for DTs this year, this seems awfully low to me. I would have thought the Packers could have gotten a 2nd rounder and a late-round pick, if not a first rounder. I hope the coverage tomorrow will give us a decent sense of why I’m wrong.

UPDATE III: Just to be clear, I still think this was a good move for the Packers and a smart maneuver by Ted Thompson. I just wonder why the Packers couldn’t have held out for more given the awful DT market this year.

One Response to “Corey Williams Gone”

I was (and am) a fan of Williams. He played hard and was unselfish (from this point of view) and pretty productive on a per play basis. That said, I think we have likely seen his ceiling, and I question his value to a team without the depth the packers had which allowed him to maximize his effectiveness. As long as Jolly comes back healthy (not a sure thing by any stretch), and Harrell continues to improve, I think this is a loss the Pack can sustain. As for the 2nd round yield, it’s more than I woudl’ve predicted. Although as an UFA Williams likely would’ve recieved an outsized contract, teams usually are much less willing to spend draft picks than money for a veteran who is not a clear cut star, and even clear cut stars like Moss last year (albeit with some baggage), Kris Jenkins this year, Javon Walker a few years back rarely yield 1st rounders in return. If you believe that 2nd and 3rd rounders are the best values in the NFL as that WSJ article which was linked on packergeeks a few months ago stated, this is a very shrewed deal.

Thompson and MM have really solidified the middle of the D the last few years, I think they will address the edges of the D in this draft and FA period (a playmaking LB, a pass rusher in the KGB mold, another quality corner). my guess/hope is that CB being a more premium position will be addressed early, with LB and DE addresssed with those 2nd and 3rd rouonders.